Brush and case compound

ABSTRACT

A toothbrush or the like bristle-carrying body the shank of which is carried by an advantageously tubular rear section inside which it may collapse, the shifting of said body into and out of said rear section being performed frictionally by the throttled part of a case adapted to receive the brush, said throttled part engaging the bristles to ride over them frictionally so as to shift said body in the desired direction.

United States Patent References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,140,690 5/1915 [72] lnventor WiniriedWerding 25, de Chailly, 1000 Lausanne, Switzerland 838,079

1,588,781 6/1926 Stoddard......

2,630,912 3/1953 Warner et FOREIGN PATENTS 7/1954 Belgium AppLNo. [22] Filed July 1,1969 [45] Patented Apr.13,197l [32] Priority July 2,1968

Switzerland 9884/68 525,913 527,113 6/1931 Germany Primary Examiner-Peter Feldman Attorneys-Robert E. Burns and Emmanuel .1. Lobato Patented April 13, 1971 aausrr AND CASE COMPOUND Traveller's brushes such as toothbrushes should be short so that they show a bulk as reduced as possible while remaining sufficiently long so as to be convenient for use.

Now my invention has for its object the execution of a brush and case satisfying such conflicting requirements.

According to my invention, the shank of the brush includes two parts sliding one inside the other, while the case is provided near its opening with a throttled part forming an abutment for the bristles of the brush when the latter is shifted into or out of the case.

The brush is thus automatically made shorter when it is put away inside its caseand is automatically made longer when it is taken out of the latter.

la the accompanying drawings illustrating by way of example an embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 illustrates the brush and case in longitudinal sectional view.

HO. 2 is an end view of the case.

The shank of the brush includes a tubular section 1 inside which the shank of a body 2 is adapted to slide longitudinally, said body 2 carrying transversely the bristles 3 of the toothbrush. The tubular section 1 is closed by a slightly outwardly projecting bottom 4 forming an abutment for the actual case 5 when it is fitted over the toothbrush and over its tubular section I. The outer end of the shank of the body 2 is provided with two annular grooves 6 and 7 housing two socalled O-ring packings 8 and 9. The rear end la of the tubular section 1 is also provided inwardly with two annular grooves adapted to be engaged by said packings 8 and 9 in the position of the body illustrated in solid lines.

The packings 8 and 9 thus ensure a locking of the shank in its normal elongated condition.

The actual case 5 provided with a ventilating hole 10 at its outer end has a throttled part 11 defining a sloping surface 12 carrying along its medial line a rib 13 the end of which registering with the narrowest portion of the case 5 forms a projection 14.

When the brush is pushed into the case 5, the bristles 3 abut against the sloping surface 12 the resistance of which is such that the packings 8 and 9 are urged out of the grooves in the tubular section I so that the shank body 2 recedes within said tubular section 1 until the end of the body 2 is arrested by the bottom of the section 1. At this moment a slightly increased pressure exerted on said bottom 4 causes the brush bristles to ride over the projection 14 defining the narrowest position of the throttled part of the case 1 so that the brush enters then the position illustrated in dot-anddash lines inside the case 1.

The tubular section 1 of the shank is provided with a longitudinal groove 15 which can be engaged by the projection 14 so as to guide the sliding of the compound shank and toothbrush into the case 5 and to finally produce a wedging and locking of the case over the sloping surface 16 formed at the rear end of the said groove 15.

When the brush is drawn out of the case the bristles abut against the throttled part 11 of the case which leads to a stretching out of the compound shank and toothbrush together with a locking thereof in its expanded condition. The front end 17 of the tubular section of the shank is slightly shrunk in so as to hold securely the drawn out shank body 2 in the tubular section 1.

As a modification, the packings 8 and 9 may be rigid with the tubular section 1 instead of being rigid with the shank body 2. Furthermore it is not necessary for the shank body and tubular section to slide frictionally with reference to each other since a wedging engagement is necessary only when the brush is in its expanded elongated condition.

The packings 8 and 9 may in fact be completely eliminated and the shank body may be held fast in its projecting position by the shrunk-in end of the tubular member the thickness of the shank body increasing in this case from the location of the bristles towards the slidingrear end of the bod I The locking of the pro ecting body may a so be obtained through any conventional means such as a catch or a springurged ball.

The toothbrush and case-according to the invention can be provided with a disinfectant for disinfecting the brush while it is stored in the case. The case may be provided with a cake or a tablet made, for example, of hexachlorophene, to provide a disinfectant within the lower part of the case. The cake of disinfectant material may be provided near the bottom of the case secured to the wide wall 5 or on the bottoms so that the aeration openings-l0 allow a disinfectant atmosphere to be formed within the case. Such a cake would most likely take in the order of 6 months to evaporate and would be accordingly replaced when necessary. Provision may be made for making the bottom of the case removable or a lower part of the wall 5 made to replace the disinfectant cake that develops fumes within the case. Thus formation of bacteria cultures on the brush is avoided if any food particles remain on the brush after use thereof.

lclaim: v

l. A brush and case compound comprising a brush including a bristle-carrying body, bristles carried by said body and a rear shank section with reference to which said body is slidingly carried between a collapsed position and a forwardly projecting operative position and adapted to securely hold the body in its projecting position, and a case provided with an open end and a throttled part adjacent said end and adapted to be fitted over the rear shank section and projecting body to make said throttled part frictionally engage the bristles on the body thereby to urge first said body back into its collapsed position and then to pass over the bristles and enclose the rear shank section and collapsed body.

2. A brush and case compound as claimed in claim 1 adapted to releasably lock the brush body in its projecting position. I

3. A brush and case compound as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rear shank section is tubular and encloses the bristle-carrying body and at least one of said brush parts, the rear shank section and the body, is provided with an annular groove facing the other brush part adjacent the location of the front end of the rear section, the brush including furthermore an annular packing fitted in said groove and adapted to releasably lock the brush body in its projecting position.

4. A brush and case compound as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outer rear portion of the rear shank section flares outwardly to engage frictionally the open end of the case adjacent its throttled part.

5. A brush and case compound as claimed in claim 1 wherein the throttled part of the case includes a corrugation extending towards theopen end of said case and wherein the outer surface of the rear portion of the rear shank section flares outwardly to engage frictionally the open end of the case and is provided with a longitudinal corrugation mating the corrugation on the throttled part of the case.

6. A brush and case according to claim 1, including means to develop a disinfecting atmosphere within said case during storage of the brush therein. 

1. A brush and case compound comprising a brush including a bristle-carrying body, bristles carried by said body and a rear shank section with reference to which said body is slidingly carried between a collapsed position and a forwardly projecting operative position and adapted to securely hold the body in its projecting position, and a case provided with an open end and a throttled part adjacent said end and adapted to be fitted over the rear shank section and projecting body to make said throttled part frictionally engage the bristles on the body thereby to urge first said body back into its collapsed position and then to pass over the bristles and enclose the rear shank section and collapsed body.
 2. A brush and case compound as claimed in claim 1 adapted to releasably lock the brush body in its projecting position.
 3. A brush and case compound as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rear shank section is tubular and encloses the bristle-carrying body and at least one of said brush parts, the rear shank section and the body, is provided with an annular groove facing the other brush part adjacent the location of the front end of the rear section, the brush including furthermore an annular packing fitted in said groove and adapted to releasably lock the brush body in its projecting position.
 4. A brush and case compound as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outer rear portion of the rear shank section flares outwardly to engage frictionally the open end of the case adjacent its throttled part.
 5. A brush and case compound as claimed in claim 1 wherein the throttled part of the case includes a corrugation extending towards the open end of said case and wherein the outer surface of the rear portion of the rear shank section flares outwardly to engage frictionally the open end of the case and is provided with a longitudinal corrugation mating the corrugation on the throttled part of the case.
 6. A brush and case according to claim 1, iNcluding means to develop a disinfecting atmosphere within said case during storage of the brush therein. 